Entries in amanda
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That's what I woke up this morning thinking about. #BB15 events had finally led to a scenario which helped this newbie better understand the concept of the "backdoor." Indy Mike helped me learn it in generic terms:

Elissa holds court in the HOH room.- Head of Household nominates two people for eviction.

- In the Power of Veto competition, players consist of the HOH, the two nominees, and three additional randomly-drawn house guests. (Sometimes one of the chips drawn says "house guest's choice," so one player is slightly less random.)

- Earlier in the #BB15 season when the MVP picked a third nominee, the POV players consisted of the HOH, the three nominees, and two additional randomly-drawn house guests.

- If the HOH wins POV, she or he might save one of the original nominees -- so that s/he can nominate somebody different, who would then have no opportunity to compete to pull her/himself off the block before the eviction vote. This new nominee (who, by the way, would be labelled on our Ticker graphic at right as "Nominated via POV"), if evicted, would be considered to have been "backdoored."

- If one of the nominees wins POV, s/he virtually always saves her/himself ... so whomever picked the saved nominee (HOH or, earlier in the season, MVP) picks a new nominee. This new nominee, if evicted, is considered to have been "backdoored."

Power of Veto.- If a non-nominee wins POV, s/he gets to choose to pull somebody off the block. And then ... yup ... a new nominee goes up. If the new nominee is evicted, is s/he also considered to have been backdoored?

- The POV winner may choose not to use his/her veto, leaving the original eviction nominees in place. (Andy did that last week.)

As the day started this morning, the situation was this: Elissa is HOH, Aaryn and McCrae are on the block, and the POV competition was coming up. Elissa was Helen's strongest ally and she's no fan of Amanda. I haven't myself been much of an Elissa fan (I certainly had nothing good to say about her in my last post), but there was reason to think Elissa had been scheming to backdoor Amanda. And this, to me, was indeed good news.

Oh, noooo! See what Amanda's wearing today?What I didn't realize until reading Ash's "Night Owl" post this morning is that the house guests selected to be the additional POV players today were Judd, GinaMarie, and ... Amanda. Uh oh!

Here's another thing newbie viewers need to learn: An unnominated house guest who wins POV also wins immunity for the week. She or he can't be nominated.

You get one guess who won POV early Saturday afternoon. So much for the perfect backdoor! It was exactly the right time for somebody who had previously won nothing to win a comp.

My dream scenario for this next week is ruined. Since my favorite house guest (Helen) was evicted, I was hoping to see Amanda go next -- thus eliminating the two most powerful players in consecutive weeks and necessitating an entirely new power structure to be formed in #BB15's remaining weeks. That would have been absolutely delicious to watch.

Let the next speculations begin. Current thinking is that Elissa will put up Andy, Spencer, or GinaMarie. Who do you think is most likely? Amanda will save McCrae, obviously. Will Aaryn go to jury or the new nominee? Comment below or hit me up @uselesstraffic.

Knowing they're potential replacement nominees, Andy and Spencer try to get on Elissa's good side.

Here's why I should still label all my posts as "from the Newbie Desk." I knew there was one concept about backdooring which I wasn't getting right. BigBrotherGossip.com reader "Richard" commented on this morning's "Night Owl" post from Ash with the relevant detail:

"For it to be a back door you can't have played in the veto comp. So if Amanda goes this week she just goes as the replacement nom not a back door."

Exactly right. So since Amanda got to play in the POV competition, my "perfect backdoor" scenario couldn't have happened this week. Amanda could have been nominated if she hadn't won veto, but it wouldn't have been a "backdoor." Andy and Spencer are the only house guests this week who were neither nominated nor played in the POV comp; if either is nominated and then evicted, I guess he will have been backdoored -- sort of, since neither was seemingly the one Elissa originally wanted? (Thanks, Richard.)

I wanted to promote BigBrotherGossip.com reader "Ben"'s comment (which is actually below) up here to an "update" on this post, as it provides more great insight for newbies about what a "backdoor" is:

"The other thing about a true backdoor is that it must be planned from the start. If someone on the block wins veto and is replaced by someone who didn't compete for POV, that's not a backdoor, unless that replacement nominee was the target from the outset. That's just bad luck." (Thanks, Ben.)

Wow wow WOW!! What a night!! I will try to gloss over the early day and evening stuff so I can get to the juicy bits for you. Early in the day McCrae and Aaryn were nominated. Elissa had stated to everyone that Aaryn was her target, but as I said before, I was hoping she had a bigger plan. Elissa made a deal with Judd to work with him for as long as they could toward the end, and Elissa told him she was so happy he was back and confided in him her plans.

Aaryn moped around knowing that she could quite possibly be going home, and despite everyone telling her to just be quiet and they have the votes to keep her, she still for some reason ran to the ONE person who wouldn't and couldn't help her....Amanda! She told Amanda she was so pissed that Judd was back in the house and got his key. She told her she was sure that GinaMarie had a deal with Elissa (which she kind of does, but not the kind of deal Aaryn was thinking). Amanda and Aaryn bitched and whined to each other and laid around for most of the evening.

While Amanda, Aaryn, and McCrae were laying around, GinaMarie had a very very long conversation about Aaryn and about Amanda. Elissa told GinaMarie a lot of the things Aaryn has said about her and they both agreed for the most part that Amanda was a huge part, if not all of the problem between the girls in the house.

Cut to a little while later and Elissa has a DR session. when she came out of the DR session she caught Judd in the bathroom hallway and asked him what he thought about the idea of getting rid of Amanda instead. He said he was on board. She asked him if he thought it was a better idea than getting rid of Aaryn, and he said definitely. So she sent him to go get Aaryn and send her up to the HOH room.

When Aaryn came into the HOH room, Elissa just came right out with it: "I think we should just put everything behind us and work together and get Amanda out." She asked Aaryn if she would be on board and of course Aaryn said yes. Elissa told her that she almost wanted to win the veto herself just to prove to Aaryn how serious she was, but that she still wanted Aaryn to fight like crazy for it. They had a long talk in which Elissa told her that she felt like Amanda was the problem between the two of them and she really wanted to see if they could work together with Amanda out of the house and not in the middle of them. It's honestly one of the only times I think I've ever seen Aaryn not scowling.

A little while after Aaryn found out about what was going on, she only had time to fill GinaMarie (who already knew) on a little bit of it when the feeds were cut to fish so they could draw players for the veto competition. Elissa told Aaryn in their discussion that if she gets HG choice she could do whatever she wanted to, but that she might want to consider picking Judd over GM as he is a little stronger in competition and she knew for a fact Judd would take Aaryn off the block. Earlier in the night Amanda had told Aaryn that she had to pick HER to play for her (why Amand though Aaryn would pick her is beyond me. Yes, I pick you so you can play for you and yoru boyfriend and not me..). While picking Amanda might be a smart move because she has yet to win anything, Aaryn went with Elissa's plan instead. When the feeds returned, chaos had ensued.

Spencer was complaining because he did not get drawn. McCrae and Amanda were freaking out about Aaryn picking Judd to play for her. Everyone was essentially going a little nuts. Once Spencer calmed down, McCrae came into the cockpit to bitch about the situation and about how he didn't think Elissa looked happy when she drew Amanda's chip to play. Everyone was making their own argument for their own problem at once and also wondering if it would be a night comp or a morning comp. I preferred the Judd response.

Just when all the boys in the cockpit were starting to get settled down, Amanda started her mad pacing through the house watching for anyone who might be talking game. She passed by GinaMarie and Elissa drinking at the kitchen counter a few times and mean mugged them until Elissa finally spit her drink out (literally) in a fit of giggles. This sent Amanda off. She thought they were whispering to each other, and so she started yelling really loudly to Elissa that GinaMarie had talked more shit about her than anyone else in the house etc.. GinaMarie fought right back though with a "And you never said ANYTHING about her though, huh?" It got louder and louder until all you could hear was GinaMarie yelling over Amanda, and Elissa took GM by the shoulders and told her to just stop because it was what Amanda wanted.

Amanda and McCrae retreated to their bed so that Amanda could talk about how much she hates all the "phony ass kissers" in the house and talk about how she would never do that and how REAL she is. (lol I'm not even trying to be funny..this joke just makes itself). GM came in and apologized for getting loud and told her that they really were just laughing at her pacing and making faces at them.

Amanda still on a mission marched up to the HOH to "talk" to Elissa. She started with her usually loop "I've been the only one there for you." "I saved you" "They hate you" "They are all terrible people and you only have me." She ended in tears and sobs asking Elissa if she was going to be "backdoored (even though you can't be backdoored if you are playing in veto). Elissa literally could not contain herself. She started laughing and she couldn't stop. A few times Elissa tried to hold in the idea of Amanda going up, but every time Amanda asked she kept bursting into giggles. After a while of Amanda's ranting, Elissa told her she was going to bed and they would just have to talk about it later and sent Amanda and McCrae from the room.

Amanda of course started whining and complaining to McCrae, and Aaryn when she could find her about Elissa laughing at her. She also kept trying to convince Aaryn that Aaryn needs to let HER win the veto so she can take McCrae off and then convince everyone to keep Aaryn.

While Amanda went through her motions and loops, the rest of the house studied the memory wall together and speculated whether this would be "morphomatic" veto or "How bad do you want it" or something else.

Everyone has gone to bed now, but Aaryn halfway filled in Spencer on what the real plan really was before they went to bed, and Judd let Andy speculate without actually saying anything to him that it would really be the best for all of them if Amanda did not win veto and went home this week.

I really feel bad for McCrae. The poor guy is on the block for the first time, but as per usually he is forced to try to calm his crazy ass girlfriend down and try to save both of their asses now that she is making so much noise. At this point he is kind of stuck with her until she leaves because it would be too risky to jump ship just now without actually knowing what the plan is or having a sure fire parachute alliance.

I do not think the veto will be tonight. It may be early in the morning, or they may have just done the draw tonight because tension was high and they knew people would explode and lose it. If the latter, I'm thankful they brought the entertainment. If anyone playing in the veto (McCrae, Aaryn, Judd, Elissa, GinaMarie, Amanda) besides Amanda wins it, it looks like Amanda might actually be toast this week. Elissa is nuts and I have no idea what she has in store or if she will keep her sights set on Amanda, but for now I like where this is headed. Then again, the one person you don't want to win always does, right? Either way, this has been a fun evening to watch on the feeds. There was also a lot of humor and entertainment in between that I didn't have time to write about (thank you Judd). As always, you guys can follow me on twitter @ashes2ashes13 for more overnight feed updates. Here's hoping things get even more nuts after veto tomorrow!! Until tomorrow night...

Wow, what a night! First off, "Guess who's back, back again!" I could not be more excited that of the 4 people competing, Judd won the competition to get back into the house!

And just as the whole house didn't want Aaryn to win HOH when she stayed, but she did, they all did not want Elissa to win tonight, so of COURSE Elissa got HOH.

As soon as the HOH comp was over and everyone came inside, the HGs scattered to their various corners to talk about how unhappy they were with both the return of a HG and with Elissa getting HOH. Amanda immediately started her same old loop. She pulled Andy and McCrae into the cockpit so she could talk about how she is still SURE Judd was MVP and he just HAS to go because he has been trying to get her out of the house for WEEKS now. Andy was more than happy to jump in with about a million "it's not fair's" and McCrae agreed. Amanda also went straight to Elissa to try to get Judd put on the block. Elissa flat out told Amanda she would not be putting up Judd.

Elissa did tell Amanda that she would definitely be putting up Aaryn and possibly McCrae next to Aaryn. What she said out loud was that she wants someone on the block that can beat Aaryn in veto, and that she wants someone who will fight their heart out to keep Aaryn from getting it. It's very possible that this is the case, but I'm hoping that Elissa has bigger plans. Amanda ran straight to McCrae to talk to him about what Elissa told her. Amanda started crying over how she didn't win HOH and how McCrae might be going on the block, and they both schemed about how to get GinaMarie put up so they could still vote out Aaryn but keep themselves safe. They also schemed about what to tell Judd about his eviction and eventually decided to blame it all on Helen and tell him that Helen had been telling them that he was MVP and he was after her.

McCrae then pulled Elissa into the cockpit to tell her how "dumb" it would be to put him on the block next to Aaryn. He told her he would do anything to win the veto anyway including shave his head, and made a pretty long and convincing, if not somewhat forceful argument. For a while it seemed like Elissa bought it. She told McCrae she would consider not putting him up, but that Aaryn MUST go and if she feels like ANYONE doesn't fight as hard as they can for the veto, she is putting that person up next to Aaryn.

Then Elissa pulled Spencer into the have-not room. She made the same threats about veto that she made to McCrae to Spencer and also made a deal with him for 2 weeks of safety if she didn't put him on the block and told him she would likely be putting up McCrae and Aaryn. Spencer acted like he was cool with all of this but then ran to McCrae and Andy to report all that Elissa had said.

During this time Aaryn (who I am sure knows the deal) mostly just laid around and looked like she might die, and Andy revived his old game of "pop goes the weasel" into every conversation he could fit himself into.

Pretty late in the night Elissa got her HOH room. She got her Yoga matt (though it wasn't the right kind) and pictures (though they were not the ones she wanted), Fake eyelashes (that she said she would NEVER wear), pictures her little boy drew for her, a necklace from her mother, A letter from Rachel, and a large bottle of Skinny Girl Tequila. Aaryn was the first to say she was tired and leave the HOH.

Once Aaryn went downstairs, Andy eventually followed her so that he could talk to her. He told her he did not want GinaMarie going up next to her and that he thought McCrae would probably be the one going up with her. He told her that he would prefer that over GM going up. Now, I don't know if Andy is totally serious about his final 3 with Aaryn and GM or if he is just saying things to her in case she comes off the block, but if he is serious, McCrae, or whoever takes that spot next to Aaryn tomorrow could actually be in trouble.

Not to be deterred from being able to control the nominations, Amanda wasted no time in snuggling right up to "her new best friend". I'm hoping all of this has no affect at all on Elissa just like everything else anyone tells her.

It's very hard for me to tell if Elissa really does live on another planet, or if there are actually wheels turning, but here is what I am HOPING she is doing. I am hoping she is trying to break up the two major duos still left in the house by putting one of each up (McCrae and Aaryn). If Aaryn won veto I am hoping she would put up Amanda next to McCrae to break them up, or put up GinaMarie next to Aaryn if McCrae came down. That way you break up one of the couples either way. I'm not positive this is what she is doing, but it's the only thing that I think would make sense with the nominations she is making.

At this point a lot of them are still awake and I'm not sure how much more game talk will happen tonight, but I THINK it's likely that Aaryn and McCrae will go on the block today with Aaryn being the target. Elissa is a little different from all the previous HOH's though, and that could be subject to change..especially with Amanda and McCrae constantly in her ear. It should be an interesting week depending on who goes up and who wins veto. Elissa seems determined to make her HOH count (that's what Helen told her to do) so maybe a decent sized move will be made.

I'm SO happy Judd is back! I'm not an Elissa fan, but I'm happy to see the person they all did not want to win HOH actually get it, and if she sends out Amanda, all the better for me. This has the potential to be an interesting week between all the paranoia, campaigning, and fighting. I don't think it will go exactly as any one person has planned out...for once. As always, you guys can follow me on twitter @ashes2ashes13 for more overnight feed updates. Until tomorrow night...

Small follow up to report. Andy and Judd have now had a talk in which Andy told Judd to TRUST him that he woudl keep him safe. At first I thought Andy was just covering his ass, but he told Judd about Amanda getting into his ear and making him believe things about Judd that were not true. He told him that his eviction was due to Amanda making everyone believe he was MVP, and he told him he would fill him in on more tomorrow. Judd told Andy that in Amanda's goodbye message she said some things that he did not trust like that McCrae told HER that Judd was coming after her so she had to evict him. Very interesting...Amanda is plotting jury votes apparently. Anyway, I don't know where Andy will actually stand on this in the end, but it was an interesting conversation for sure.

Amanda and McCrae have been trying to strongarm Elissa out of her nomination decision for quite a while in front of Judd. Thus far Elissa has been shutting Amanda down while Amanda pulls out over and over that SHE is the one that keeps Elissa safe and says that she NEVER EVER EVER wanted Elissa on the block last week. I'm not sure how long Elissa will hold up, but the longer this ridiculous conversation goes, the more I hope she sticks to her guns.

Helen is very polarizing, isn't she? Love her (and/or her game play) or hate her (and/or her game play), nearly every #BB15 fan knows Helen and has a strong opinion about her presence in the house this season. Amanda, too.

But what do your feelings about Helen or Amanda say about you? BigBrotherGossip.com reader "leopardgrrl1" commented on my morning post about Helen (see "There's Logic Behind My Loyalty" -- and don't miss the comments, which have been very active and well-written today!). What she had to say was so insightful that we asked for permission to make a new post so that nobody would miss it.

With some extra polish she thoughtfully added for all of us (thank you!), here are "leopardgrrl1"'s thoughts:

To some extent, which houseguest you like becomes a Rorschach test, that reflects your own values: not that the player is a "good" person, but that you can relate to them on some level. Amanda fans like her because she is clever, snarky, and seems to see hypocrisy where it exists. And she's a strong woman whose manipulation is more "male" than that practiced by most of the girlie girl types BB tends to cast. To an Amanda fan, Helen's very earnestness is off-putting, as is the (BB storytelling narrative-supported) reliance on demographic crutches, like the fact that she's a mom. Her playing to the storyline makes people uncomfortable because it feels like pandering, somehow more than girls making themselves up constantly and wearing skimpy clothing is pandering, I guess.

Another problem with Helen is that she doesn't balance her earnestness with much humor, either about herself, or about the game. Some live feeders want drama. I want absurdity, and an understanding of how crazy it is to have signed up to be locked in a house for three months, with your actions orchestrated for television, worrying about thing like whether you can dye your hair, or get your anti-depressants on time. When she's not melting down, or attacking people, Amanda does give us humor and perspective on the essential ridiculousness of the BB house.

Finally, Elissa is Helen's shield and her albatross: watching Helen means you have to watch Elissa. And that's just impossible. Yes, I've just revealed my POV: I cannot abide irrational, inconsistent people.

OK, dream scenario: Whoever comes back tonight (Judd preferred for my entertainment, though I think it will suck for him) needs to win HOH. Tomorrow's scramble would be great. Everyone would be working hard to convince Judd that someone else orchestrated his eviction. Who will he believe? Can he align with anyone? Will his anxiety sink him again?